With the seasons changing, it's not just people that like to remain warm and cosy: rats and mice are also partial to home comforts...
Case Studies
Ah, the pitter-patter of little feet overhead. Wait a minute, the kids aren't home. And haven't been for years.
But somebody's kids are – not just their kids but grandkids and great-grandkids. Rats and mice are an amorous lot, producing multiple litters over 12 months. And now's the time of year when rodents begin heading indoors, settling in attics, lofts, walls and pantries.
In many ways, rats and mice are no different than the rest of us. They want somewhere warm and dry, but that's not the only reason rodents start house-hunting in the autumn: their outside food sources are disappearing.
It's quite terrifying for people when they have rats. It's rarely just one rat: trapping eight to 12 in a house is not uncommon. SDA Pest Control once trapped 23 rats in the house of an elderly woman whose eyesight and hearing didn't alert her to the problem. We were called when her home-care workers refused to enter her house.
Mysterious nocturnal scratchings aside, usually it's droppings that announce a rodent problem. Behind the fridge is good place to look for them. Rodents are attracted by its warmth just as they are by heating ducts. Kitchen countertops and cupboards are another favourite hangout.
Be careful when cleaning up droppings to limit airborne particles. Wear a dust mask and gloves, and spray or pour disinfectant before wiping up the droppings.
The best defence is an offence when dealing with rodents. This can start by ensuring all vents, windows and doors are shut. Before rodent-proofing the house, look around the garden and garage, just as a pest exterminator would first do in any home inspection. Remove anything that can harbour or attract rodents.
This also means picking up fallen fruit and unharvested vegetables. A ready source of food spikes the rat population.
Bird seed has been very good to the pest control business. Short of stopping feeding the birds, we would recommend homeowners to install a tray under the feeder to catch spilled seed or put the feeder on an easily swept hard surface.
Remove any branches from trees and shrubs that overhang or touch the roof. Rats can easily make a two-foot leap from a branch to a roof. Down spouts are another entry point for rodents, so put screens on them, as well as on uncapped flood drains in crawl spaces.
Look for any point of entry such as cracks, holes, spaces between siding and shingles. Fill them with cement, caulking, wood, mesh and as a temporary measure, steel wool.
Rodents don't need much space to squeeze inside a house. A mouse can navigate a hole the size of a 5 pence piece, while a rat can manage an opening as small as a tuppeny coin: if they can get their head in, they can get in.
Unlike mice, rats tend to come and go from a dwelling in search of food and water. There is little point in rodent-proofing a dwelling without first setting traps for any early arrivals. If repairs are made first, rats might be caught inside.
Snap traps are the most effective at removing rodents. They can be baited with something sniffable such as bacon, chocolate sauce, fruit or peanut butter.
We don't recommend poisoning as the rodent dies and then stinks.
Article provided by SDA Pest Control